An Entrepreneur Uses Life Savings for Crypto Exchange

Eric Cheng is a Singaporean entrepreneur who had just spent his entire life savings to acquire Japanese crypto exchange BitTrade.

Cheng used up his life savings and had even sold his luxury cars (a Ferrari, a Lamborghini, a Porsche, and two Rolls Royces) for the acquisition.

The Risks of a Crypto Exchange

Running a crypto exchange is risky business. Bithumb is the largest crypto exchange in South Korea and it had recently fallen victim to a security breach that cost them $30 million in cryptocurrencies. They had ensured clients that they will be using company funds to reimburse clients who have fallen victim to the hack.

Japan’s largest cryptocurrency exchange had also suffered the same fate earlier this year losing $450 million in NEM tokens. However, unlike Bithumb, they failed to pay back their investors and declared bankruptcy.

Despite the huge risks, Cheng does not regret the acquisition:

“The cryptocurrency industry is growing exponentially. Against this backdrop, the key to capturing the rising demand is having a well-regulated and licensed outfit. With this Japanese FSA-licensed platform, I will work closely with the regulators to scale this platform globally.”